Brioche Tressée

Long time no see! I have been cocooning so much lately as it is getting colder everyday and snowy too now. So I have decided to make something sweet for you all once again (I promise the next recipe will be savory!). With the cold weather outside and the warmth inside, winter is the best moment of the year to make brioche or sweet bread.

You may know different variations of it as it is known here under different names such as egg bread, milk bread or sweet bread.

Brioche is eaten mostly for breakfast with some butter and jam on top. It is also delicious toasted.

Let’s start cooking!

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

3 tbsp dry yeast

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs

1 tbsp orange blossom water (optional)

1 tsp salt

Instructions:

1- In a mixing bowl, mix the flour, sugar and salt.

2- Warm up the milk and dilute the yeast in it.

3- Add the 2 eggs and the mixture of milk and yeast into the mixing bowl. Mix well and add the orange blossom water if you want too. The original recipe of the brioche doesn’t include it but I really like the taste it gives to the brioche.

4- Cut the butter in cubes and incorporate into the dough. Knead the dough until the butter has completely dissolved into the dough. The dough should be smooth and non sticky. If it is still sticky, add more flour. Once your dough is smooth and non sticky, cover the bowl with a humid cloth or cling wrap for about 2 hours. Keep the dough in a warm place so it will rise without any problem.

5- 2 hours later, take the dough out of the bowl and start braiding it. Here are the steps:

Step 1:

Divide the dough in 3 parts. Roll each part in a sausage just like that (see picture).

Step 2: Attach the 3 sausages together and start braiding like you would do with your hair.

Step 3: Attach the sausages together at the end of the braid and transport and a cooking tray. Cover with cling wrap or a cloth for 30 min. Preheat your oven at 450 F.

6- Brush the brioche with 1 egg yolk and place in the oven for about 40 min.

Once it is cooked let it cool down and enjoy! If you want you can add some icing and toasted almonds on top of your brioche, or add chocolate chips into the dough.

I hope you will enjoy this recipe and like always let me know in the comments if you liked it or tried it before!